If all of NIU’s regular season basketball games wind up like last night’s exhibition match against the Brisbane (Australia) Bullets, Chick Evans Field House will be the home of some exciting, and at times frustrating, basketball for NIU fans.

The Huskies, playing their last exhibition game of the season before facing Iona College in the season opener, fell to the touring Australian club team, 71-70, in overtime.

“I think our kids played hard, but I hope they aren’t satisfied,” said head coach Jim Molinari. “Even though it’s an exhibition game, I wanted to win this game because I think our kids have been in a ton of close games when they were freshman and sophomores and haven’t won. I think winning is a habit, so we need to find a way to win these close games.”

The contest marked the debut of the NIU cheerleaders, the pep band, the new Victor E. Huskie, and most importantly, as far as Molinari’s team is concerned, point guard Donald Whiteside—who sat out NIU’s previous exhibition game for disciplinary reasons.

Whiteside made his presence known early on as he hit a three-pointer and driving lay up after a steal to give NIU a quick 7-5 lead. Brisbane came back to take the lead, 21-20 with under seven minutes left and maintained the one-point lead until, with 48 seconds remaining, the Bullet’s Andre Lafleur hit from three-point range to make the halftime score 30-26.

Huskie forward Donnell Thomas kept NIU close in the second half by scoring 13 of his game-high 21 points.

Brisbane upped its lead to 35-30 three minutes into the second half before Thomas, in a span of one minute and 44 seconds hit a 16-foot jumper, a left-handed lay-up and a rebound basket to keep the Huskies within two, 38-36.

NIU came back to take its first lead of the second half, 45-44 on a Stacy Arrington free throw with 9:35 remaining. The Huskies built their lead to 57-54 before Brisbane took the lead 58-57 on a free throw after Thomas picked up his fourth foul on a shot-block attempt. With Brisbane leading 62-59 and 51 seconds remaining, junior forward Andrew Wells put in his own missed shot to bring the Huskies within one.

The Bullets, with the ball, the lead, and only two seconds difference between the shot-clock and the game clock, tried to hold the ball for the final 42 seconds. Freshman forward Randy Fens, however, disrupted Brisbane’s plans by deflecting a Bullet pass into the hands of one of his teamates.

After an NIU time-out, the Huskies went for the winning basket with 13 seconds left. With the clock winding down to 3 seconds, Stacy Arrington drove to the hoop and was hammered for a two-shot foul. Arrington missed the first attempt but sank the second shot to knot the contest at 62. A last second half-court shot by Brisbane bounced off the rim and NIU was headed for the five-minute overtime.

In overtime, the Bullets took a 68-65 lead before Whiteside hit a three-pointer to pull NIU even with 1:08 left in the extra period. Brisbane’s Derek Rucker responded with his own three-pointer and the Huskies found themselves down 71-68 with 30 seconds left. Whiteside, with his feet straddling the three-point stripe, hit a jumper that only counted for two points and NIU, down by one with 10 seconds left, was forced to foul Brisbane. Donnell Thomas grabbed a Bullet with 5.6 seconds left and, in the process, fouled out. Brisbane’s Derek Rucker missed the free-throw but a desperation half-court shot by David Mitchell fell short; Brisbane escaped with the win.